A Police Officer’s Response to the Killing of Philando Castile

This in the letter section of a Minneapolis Paper. It points our that Officer Yanez could have retreated – and should have, if there was any question in his mind.

There was nothing about the stop that indicated that Castile posed any danger to the public. The “crime” he was stopped for was a basic traffic ticket – and in a lot of jurisdictions, would result in no fine if the driver went and got the issue fixed

I have been a police officer for 19 years. I love my job and serving my community. I have learned over the course of my career to never assume anything. As I watched the events unfold on July 6, 2016, on a Facebook Live feed, I thought that there must be more that happened. There must have been such a threat that…

Mindyme,
For sure. At trial, there was testimony of trained procedures for when a person tells an officer that they are conceal carrying. The officer is suppose to instruct the person to place both hands on the steering wheel and tell him/her where the gun is. In some situations, the person is instructed to get out of the car with their hands up so the officer can remove the gun.

Ever since Off Yanez was acquitted I’m now seeing pro 2nd amendment people saying how wrong this verdict is. They’re also saying in spite of having a CCW and letting cops know you can be killed. Maybe these people are saying this now because they don’t want to be next. All of this should’ve been said from the beginning. However, since Philando was Black it wasn’t. Hopefully those of us who want justice for racially motivated killings by police will see allies from the beginning.

I got something in my eyes reading this. Time and time again, I have talked to people who say anything police officers choose to do is reasonable. Whatever they did was what had to be done. They don’t understand that their failure to engage with alternatives, to demand better, means more people will be killed. Period. It is thus so powerful to see these words from an officer. If more officers speak out thusly, perhaps others will begin to hear.

Deborah,
Your comment reminded me of something that a late investigative journalist once told me. He and I were discussing people who appear in court who suddenly become tongue-tied. He was Jewish, and said in somewhat of a joking way that he would bet that they were all Catholic because once they see a person in a robe sitting above them, they don’t think that person can ever be wrong about anything.

There are people who see those in uniforms and even lab coats in the same sense. The positions might very well deserve respect, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the person does. Humans are not perfect.

You are correct that we need more officers to speak out about the wrong actions of other officers because ultimately, human lives are at risk.